Glenn gets it absolutely right on FISA.
Glenn documents the hay being made by pundits and bloggers declaring that Bush was vindicated in the court's ruling, that the review court says Bush's illegal and warrantless wiretapping wasn't illegal after all. Which wasn't what the review court said, at all. This was a very narrow decision, on whether Congress acted within its authority in passing the Protect America Actin August 2007 - a law that is now long expired.
Not that that will stop the Bush apologists, rehabilitators and the Villagers who are nothing more than ready to turn the page on their complicity in all of the excesses of the Bush years.
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Derek Dye is employed by the Elizabeth New Life Center - an organization that landed an $800K grant to promote abstinence-only education.
Dye goes around to schools dressed like a clown to juggle and tell middle schoolers with statements like "Having sex before you are married is just like juggling machetes!" OK, never mind that the kids probably think this guy is asinine and ridiculous, take a look at the deep knowledge about sex ed that Dye brings to the table. Again, I sh*t you not:
His qualifications? A "Bachelor of Fun Arts" from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.
...What's more, abstinence-only programs don't work – independent study after study has shown that students who receive them don't have lower pregnancy, HIV, or STI rates. And worse, students who receive abstinence-only programs are less likely to use contraception and condoms when they do have sex.
Then again, as someone said, 'nothing makes me want to have sex less than a clown'… so maybe they're on to something.
Watch your tax dollars go up in smoke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvCvwhSES4o&eurl=http://pandagon.net/
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"You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions."
- President George W. Bush
As this is being written, Mister Bush has 107 hours to finish supervising the packing of his bags and fly to Dallas. No more cutting brush for him. No more pretending on that score.
Unfortunately, when he and Dick Cheney head out of Washington on Tuesday, their legacy will remain. The Smirk and the Snarl will fly away and take their audacious, minute-to-minute mendacity with them. No longer will a lickspittle media have to find fresh ways to rescue them from their latest betrayal, faux pas, stupidity, outrage. But the destruction they leave behind is deep and wide – a shredded Constitution, a wrecked economy, a worsened environment, a shattered multilateralism, a strengthened plutocracy, a partisan legal system, an undermined scientific community, crippled national security, trashed diplomacy, battered checks and balances. These will not – cannot - be fixed in a few months or even a few years.
Which made the aggressive treacle of Mister Bush's farewell address all the more insufferable Thursday night. That it was his last speech as President was its only saving grace. A man characterized by a chronic lack of leadership talent throughout his entire life, a man who showed a relentless inability to act until his handlers told him what to do dared speak to us of trust, decisiveness, toughness. We know the truth of that. We saw it on that awful day which Mister Bush conjured up once again in his Thursday night goodbye. If we hadn't known we were in trouble previously, we learned it watching him with The Pet Goat in his hands, doing nothing, waiting, as always, for someone to rescue him.
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Letterman's final "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches:
Here's the teaser: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v172178714e7SbrEh?rank=6&order=
Here's the montage: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/16/letterman-presents-final_n_158705.html
According to the latest CBS/NYT Poll, Bush will leave office with a 22% approval rating: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/main4728399.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4728399
Harry Truman had previously had the lowest end-of-term approval at 32%.
Bye, Mr. 22%!
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Making every effort to not target civilians....
Israeli attack on UN warehouse destroys thousands of pounds of food: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231950870249&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Badtux:
Israeli apologists say "if the Palestinians don't want to be slaughtered, they should expel Hamas."
And if the hostages at a bank robbery don't want to be slaughtered by the cops when the cops open fire on the bank robbers, they should, what, expel the bank robbers? Even though the bank robbers have guns and they don't?
The average Palestinian doesn't give a shit for any of this. They just want to live their life in peace. A CARE worker and his six children sleeping on the street because they'd rather be blown to pink mist by a bomb than die a slow and miserable death under the ruins of their home is a typical Palestinian. What is this guy, a CARE worker who specializes in running women's programs, supposed to do? Go up to the Hamas compound, which is guarded by a bunch of people with AK-47's and RPG's, and do *what*? Blaming him and his children for their own brutal death at the hands of an Israeli bomb is an atrocity. They are hostages to Hamas as much as the bank customers in my example above are hostages to bank robbers. If Israel's beef is with Hamas, they should send in soldiers to homes where Hamas leaders are and execute the Hamas leaders. Expecting unarmed women and children and CARE workers to do something Israel's own soldiers are apparently too gutless and cowardly to do is just *wrong*.
And before someone accuses me of having a double standard, I feel the same way about the Busheviks and their war crimes in Iraq such as the rape of Fallujah (*twice*). The whole lot of them -- the Busheviks, Hamas's leadership, Israel's leadership who violated the cease-fire on November 4 and incited the war to time with the U.S. holidays and the end of the Bush regime -- should get a fair trial for war crimes, then hung by the neck to die, just like the Japanese and Nazi war criminals at the end of WWII. They're all war criminals, in the end. Sad to say, they'll all die of old age, instead of swinging at the end of a rope like they deserve. So it goes.
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"I've given it my all. I've given it my all...." George W Bush (R-Liar, Fraud, Thief, Murderer etc) to Larry King Link
No George, you didn't give your all - you barely showed up. The truth is you went on 77 vacations in 8 years (and you're leaving on another one today). That's almost one week per month you were playing with yourself instead of working.
Considering the results when you actually WERE working, we're okay that you took so much time off, but stop lying about how hard you worked.
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Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins (established in 1179): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/4247756/Vatican-reveals-secrets-of-worst-sins.html?whaargarbl
I think the list needs to be updated to include raping little boys - and those who covered it up.
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GOP optimistic about 2010! Link
The new NRA lapdog, Sen. John Cornhole, R-TX., said today the landscape will be different for 2010's Senate races as compared to last November's elections because "George Bush will not be in office."
His point was that many of the ads run against Fascist dogs in 2008 "involved references to George Bush ... taking advantage of his low poll numbers and trying to tie that candidate to the president."
Cornhole also pointed out that Obama won't be on the ballot in 2010, which he thinks "presents an opportunity" for Republicans."
Hey, Cornhole, your message is hate and fear - that's why you lost four of the last five popular votes. And if Kerry wasn't such a yellow quitter, it would've been 5 out of five.
As long as you keep offering the voters nothing but hate and fear, expect to keep losing.
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Comment found on the internets regarding Sheldon Whitehouse's pledge to take matters into his own hands regarding prosecuting the Bushies:
"Once an investigation begins and all the whistle blowers come out of the woodwork, there's going to be such a damning case against everyone in the Bush Crime Family that Congress/Obama will not be able to NOT prosecute them."
We'll see how far the investigation goes after Dingy Harry has a talk with Sheldon.
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"There's one reason why Obama will not seek a meeting with me: I'm the only guy who might be able to change his mind." the vulgar Pigboy, impressed with his own greatness.
I'm surprised that syphilis hasn't killed him yet. How long does Stage Three usually last?
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Psycho Rocker Wants to Make Nice With Obama
Ted Nugent writes in an editorial that he wants to be Obama's drug czar. This is the same guy who while holding a couple of machine guns during a concert said, "Obama, he's a piece of shit, and I told him to suck on my machine gun." Now he wants to make nice.
"Call me, President Obama. Hippies, dope heads, corrupt politicos and various other human debris hate me, which makes me the perfect man for the job."
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The other population explosion
Mankind isn't the only animal that's going forth and multiplying and smothering the planet. The oceans are being strangled by jillions and gazillions of jellyfish — sort of the Homo sapiens of the marine world.
This is being caused partially by over-fishing, which is removing their predators and competitors. Another factor is the warming of the oceans. In other words — sorry, wingnuts - global warming. Climate change.
Pollution is another culprit. Jellyfish thrive in the kind of pollution that kills almost everything else. Maybe someday the oceans will be like those clogged sick polluted rivers that have nothing but carp.
One of the worst examples is the Black Sea. And it's happening in The Sea of Japan, in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Florida, among other places.
The Global-Warming-Is-A-Myth brigade might soon be dealing with a tougher opponent than just a few wacky treehuggers: the international fishing and tourism industries.
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Vanity Fair - "My Dinners With Dubya" by C. Brian Smith
When a college drinking buddy invited C. Brian Smith to hang out with her parents, he tried not to sweat the fact that they lived in the White House. He even had fun—until 9/11 made watching bad movies with the president feel like a guilty pleasure America couldn't afford.....
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Hair of the dog, take two: let's watch who we're being bipartisan with: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/01/hair-of-dog-take-two-lets-watch-who.html
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Satan Blows A Piccolo: http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2009/01/satan-blows-piccolo.html
Rick Sanchez goes all Keith on Joe the Alleged Plumber: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BE0rc2aZpc&eurl=http://www.first-draft.com/
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Krispy Kreme thought that it was just getting into the Inaugural fun with a promotion of a free doughnut. The "freedom of choice doughnuts" is being labeled "abortion doughnuts" by the American Life League, which charges that Krispy Kreme is glazing over Obama's pro-choice views.
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MoveOn tells me that Barack and Michelle Obama have a request for us: Spend this coming Monday—Martin Luther King Day—volunteering to serve the urgent needs in our communities.
In this economic crisis, food banks are struggling to keep up. Homeowners need help weatherizing to keep out the cold. Schools are crumbling.
Some folks have been hit harder by the recession than others, but we're all in it together. We've all got to roll up our sleeves and help each other out. And volunteering is always a great experience—in just a few hours, you can help make a huge difference in the lives of others.
While that's a great idea, I have a suggestion as well: how about they cut back on their inaugural spending...
A bit regal for a recession?
Obama's inauguration could cost $150 million: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/14/barack-obama-inauguration-cost
Fun fact: Franklin Delano Roosevelt held a modest ceremony during World War II and Franklin Pierce canceled the inaugural balls as frivolous expenditures.
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Tax exempt AND rolling in the dough
President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to greatly expand President Bush's faith-based initiative program. He may would to consider a recent lawsuit where the Catholic church is accused of receiving a federal funding to assist sex trafficking victims but allowed to decline to provide contraceptive material or abortion services.
Under the $6 million contract, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide services to trafficking victims but also allowed the Church to prohibit subcontractors providing services from providing "referral for abortion services or contraceptive materials."
This is the dilemma of subsidizing religious organizations in the supply of social programs. The Bush administration has given billions to such organizations and the Obama administration has promised to multiply that effort. Great.
For the full story, click here.
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The blame game in Gaza: covering for Israel, concealing war crimes: http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2009/01/16/the-blame-game-in-gaza-covering-for-isra#more1948
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Rabbi declares there are no innocent civilians in Gaza: http://adamite.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/rabbi-declares-there-are-no-innocent-civilians/
There might be talk of a cease-fire, but Israel deployed 50 air strikes in Gaza overnight, with Palestinians claiming a tank shell killed at least two children staying at a UN school. Read it at BBC News
And if there IS a cease-fire, what will change when the bombs stop falling? http://entequilaesverdad.blogspot.com/2009/01/gaza-what-will-change-when-bombs-stop.html
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Bush appointed a lot of real slime throughout the government but few were as a dangerous to America as the ones he used to politicize the Justice Department, among them the worst contemptible partisan hacks imaginable. And none were as bad as fanatic wingnuts Mary Beth Buchanan of Pittsburgh and Alice Martin of Birmingham, each of whom has decided to refuse to give up their offices and are daring Obama to evict them. They claim they have lots of Democrats they want to prosecute and that they are entitled to stay right where they are. Personally I hope each is arrested and charged with trespassing on government property and with abetting terrorism by interfering with the functioning of the Justice Department. Long jail sentences would send a much-needed message to fellow Federalist Society saboteurs that the new administration intends to start protecting the rights of American working families from GOP predators. Scott Horton at the Daily Beast has the story.
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Let us now turn, in the spirit of bipartisanship, to Barack Obama. Who apparently never got the memo about dancing with the one that brung you:
Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Friday he would have liked to work in the Obama administration, but instead is embarking on a life in the private sector after nearly 30 years in politics.Dean told The Associated Press in an interview that he is weighing where next to take a career that has moved rapidly from family doctor to Vermont governor to presidential candidate to national party boss. This Wednesday, he ends a term as chairman in which Democrats recaptured the White House, seized majorities in Congress and picked up governorships.
Some of his supporters have been upset that after all he's done for Democrats, President-elect Barack Obama did not pick him for an administration job. When asked how he felt, Dean said he would "punt on that one."
And along those lines...
Don't get too comfortable with Democratic majorities because Barack Obama's hand-picked DNC chair can't cope with the success of the 50-state strategy....so he's decided to scale it back.
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ThinkProgress has listed "The 43 Who Helped Make Bush The Worst Ever". The list is topped by Darth Cheney, followed by Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, Don Rumsfeld, and Michael Brown ("Brownie," who did a heckuva job ensuring the almost complete destruction of New Orleans, post-Katrina). The Top 10 is completed with Paul Wolfowitz, David Addington ("Cheney's Cheney"), Stephen Johnson of the EPA, Doug ("The Dumbest Motherf**ker On The Planet") Feith, and John ("The Mustache") Bolton.
Condoleezza Rice doesn't make the list til #18. John Yoo, the moon-faced torture maven from Boalt Hall, is on at #11. Ari Fleischer makes the list at 12. None of the rest will be particularly surprising, though some of them will not be familiar names to anyone not already a total anti-Bushevik. I do not know how none of the Supremes past or present made the list; it seems to me that Sandra Day O'Connor deserves a place, since it was she more than any other single individual who made the last 8 years possible. Alito and Roberts have both made contributions, too, as has Tony ("Vafanculo") Scalia. Also conspicuous by his absence would be Grover Norquist.
The Progress Reporters appended their selections with the following notice:
Dishonorable Mentions: Bush appointees who didn't quite make the list included a child pornography aficionado, a patron of hookers, a shoplifter, a mail fraudster, an operator of an illegal horse gambling ring, and a CIA official who took bribes in the form of prostitutes.
I do not know by what criteria folk were included or consigned to lower orders of influence. Why did they stop at 43? With O'Connor and the six in the addendum, there would have been a nice, even 50. The answer?
The Progress Report heralds the conclusion of the Bush 43 presidency by bringing you our list of the top 43 worst Bush appointees. Did we miss anyone? Who should have been ranked higher? Let us know what you think.
Other quibbles aside, I think Condi should have made the list twice, once as Nat Sec Advisor ("Bin Laden Determined To Strike In US"), and then again as SecState. Seldom has any single person been so universally admired, in spite of being so incredibly inept as that skanky, chicken-legged bint with her phony Stanford job...
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Bush slips in one more shot against France. A complete ass right until the end. Increasing import duties on Roquefort cheese? What the hell?
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New GAO report says bailed out companies have subsidiaries offshore and don't pay taxes: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011602602.html?hpid=topnews
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Another $722 million pissed down a hole in Iraq because nobody thought to write oversight into the contract.
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One last blow for white privilege by the Bush Administration before the black people move into town
The Bush Administration's Department of Justice announced Monday that they are suing the city of Gary, Indiana for discriminating against white people.
On another note, the rural white folk in the Old South are not happy about the fact that Obama won.
Point 1, which applies to 4/12/1865 as well as 11/4/2008: We won. You lost. Get over it.
Point 2: George Bush never governed as anything other than the president of those who voted for him. He had no interest in doing anything that did not, first and foremost, benefit his base. You have no right to complain.
Point 3:
In an Administration that is headed by an African-American, tacking up a Confederate battle flag to your garage is going to be viewed as being as offensive as it would if the new President was Jewish and you had a Nazi flag displayed. The Confederate flag is associated with the cause of slavery, whether you like it or not. The Confederate flag was embraced in the 1950s and 1960s by the segregationist racists, which is when the confederate flag was added to a number of Southern state flags.Spare me the rationalizations why that is not so, for they are all bullshit. Grow up and take the freaking flags down.
61 detainees returning to terror? No, the Pentagon is "making up numbers" http://crooksandliars.com/cernig/61-detainees-returning-terror-no-pentagon-m
If they did 'return to terror', who could blame them after what we did to them at Gitmo?
In a cruel parting shot before leaving office, the Bush Administration has (for the second time) stripped wolves in Idaho and Montana of their Endangered Species protection -- leaving them at the mercy of two states that are gunning for them.
Hundreds of wolves are effectively on death row. As soon as the hunting seasons begin and "Open Fire" orders are issued, state officials and hunters will fan out through Greater Yellowstone and Central Idaho in search of an animal that should be on the Endangered Species list.
NRDC is racing to court to stop this slaughter before it can begin.
Last spring, more than 110 wolves were brutally killed in as many days. The wolf-killing rampage only stopped after NRDC and 11 other conservation groups prevailed in federal court -- thanks to your support!
If you care about the plight of wolves, please make an emergency donation now. We've been able to save wolves from years of relentless attacks by the Bush Administration only because of your steadfast support at critical moments like this.
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